Taylor Swift Announces Surprise Album “Folklore” Featuring Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver

The album will be released at midnight tonight

Taylor Swift in black playing a guitar at a concert
Taylor Swift performs at L'Olympia in September 2019 in Paris, France.
Dave Hogan/ABA/Getty Images

Taylor Swift surprised fans by announcing what appears to be her answer to Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods — a brand new studio album called folklore, featuring some forest-themed artwork and contributions from indie-rock heavyweights like Bon Iver and The National’s Aaron Dessner.

Swift’s eighth studio LP, which will be released at midnight EST, was written and recorded entirely in quarantine, and 11 of its 16 tracks were co-written or produced by Dessner. “Before this year, I probably would’ve overthought when to release this music at the ‘perfect’ time, but the times we’re living in keep reminding me that nothing is guaranteed,” the singer wrote in her announcement. “My gut is telling me that if you make something you love, you should just put it out into the world.”

Swift also announced that she’ll be releasing eight deluxe CD editions and eight deluxe vinyl editions of the album, which will contain a bonus track called “the lakes” and each have a unique cover, photos and artwork. The deluxe physical editions will be available for one week. She also revealed that the music video for lead single “cardigan” will be released tonight.

“The entire shoot was overseen by a medical inspector, everyone wore masks, stayed away from each other, and I even did my own hair, makeup and styling,” she wrote.

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